These two were the highlight of the concert for me. The Oracle is an incredible instrumental on the newest album of the same name, and I loved the opportunity to see them perform it live! Then the little medley they played inside Keep Away made for a very unique experience. I know they've put Mistakes at the beginning of other songs before, but although I can't really place what it is they're playing, I know it's definitely theirs. And it's amazing.

"If the Spurs don't win game-4, it will be a waste of effort, time, and energy." --Me, Sunday.

Game-4 in Salt Lake City saw a sloppy shooting performance by both teams. Then Manu, Jack, and Neal scored 7-straight to take the early 1st-Q lead 22-19. And then our 2nd-Q lead would swell to 12, before the Jazz closed it to 8. At halftime it was 50-42, Spurs.

The 3rd-Q was pretty close throughout, as Devin Harris continued what he began with 9 first-half points. He has been mostly non-existent in this series, though. Derrick Favors started this one, and rightfully so, as he, too, was torching us. Then Manu hit two straight threes - his first two of this this series! Up 10, 68-58 at the end of 3-Qs, Manu, Splitter, and Green continued to pour it on - outscoring the Jazz 15-0 for 8:08 (including the end of the 3rd-Q and the first 7+ minutes of the 4th-Q). Jefferson would finally put a halt to it, but we were then up by 21, 81-60, with 6:00 left. So the Spurs relaxed. Players took their foot off the gas, and thought the Jazz were in "white flag" mode.

The Jazz played inspired b-ball from then on, and forced Pop to bring back Tony & Timmy. But it didn't help. It appeared we had already put the game on "coast". Jefferson, Harris, and company would dominate us for 5 minutes, and come within 4! It's the 1st time we've been challenged in weeks, here. But a critical Jazz turnover with :49 left led to the clinching lay-up by Manu , and then a few fouls & FTs later, the game was ours, but barely. The 87-81 Spurs WIN marks our 14th straight. We close-out Utah, and await the winner of Memphis and the Clippers. Here's the boxscore, and here's ESPN's recap.. Bench scoring: Spurs 56, Jazz 10. Jazz 3-point shooting: 0-13.

Yeah it's a sweep, as noted in my post last night, but the last two games were not pretty by any means! We now get some rest, and more importantly, some practice time, and then - bring them on. Whoever it is. Memphis might just pull it out.

The San Antonio Spurs had two more days off between Wednesday's game-2 and Saturday's game-3. Of course there was travel time in there, and also a couple of practices. They took the court in Salt Lake City to face the Jazz just following an odd release of a sea of navy, gold, green, and white balloons. Doing this before a game is a new one for me.

At any rate - calming down their crowd must've been the #1 priority, because within the first 30 seconds, Timmy drew an "and-1", and another foul for 2 FTs, and then before a minute was gone, he had 6, and it was 6 to nothing. Offenses were both ready as it was 30-28 after the 1st-Q. Gary Neal capped it off with two-straight threes in the last 2-minutes.

Alec Burks and Enes Kanter would carry the Jazz for a while, as our shots weren't really falling. The game was very tight throughout most of the 2nd-Q, as Manu showed signs of a shooting slump. Not only that, but Matt Bonner got 3 quick fouls in 4 minutes - the 3rd of which was total BS. No biggy, though, we have plenty of players. Danny Green, Tony, and Timmy carried us to the last play of the half. Cue Matt Bonner for a designed last-second play, and his only points of the game. Spurs 52, Jazz 50 at the half.

The game remained tight for most of the beginning of the 3rd-Q. Devin Harris was going off for the first time in this series, but Danny Green responded with 9 3rd-Q points. Jack also hit two key threes in this late 3rd-Q run that was 15-8.. from 60-60 to 75-68, where the time ran out in period-3. It was a span that saw the Spurs D hold Utah to 3 of 12 shooting, 2 blocks, and 2 key turnovers.

Before 75 second had expired in the 4th-Q, our lead was 81-68, thanks to Tiago's incredible post-play. The Jazz would then score 6-straight, prompting Pop to take a well deserved timeout.

Derrick Favors came back with another layup, and our lead was just 5 at 81-76. But Tony Parker started to take control, as he often does in the 4th quarter. He and Manu would assist Jack and Green for layups, and our D would shut them down for the most part. At 5:09 remaining, and the score 90-78, Utah would come alive again down low. Millsap, Jefferson, and Favors were seemingly scoring at will, but so was Tony Parker, as my man had 16 4th-Q points, including the last 12 for San Antonio. We hadn't played a good game, but the game was never in doubt during the late 4th-q, as the closest the Jazz would get was 8. Spurs rolled to a 102-90 WIN.Here's the boxscore..

Utah responded very well, and Al Jefferson & Devin Harris had good games, as they should have in their 1st playoff game at home. We were even out-rebounded 49-41, but Favors, Millsap, and Hayward shot a combined 10 of 36 (28%), and the Jazz missed 12 of 26 FTs!

Game-4 is Monday night at 7 CDT again in Salt Lake City. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a 7-game series. If we lose game-4, it will have been a waste of effort. Let's get it over with!!

What a cool little interactive graphic to view all of the changes made to Augusta National Golf Club over the years! Here's historyshots dot com's introduction:

Augusta National Golf Club has undergone continuous modification since hosting its first Masters Tournament in 1934. This graphic depicts the more than 100 major changes made to the course over the past 79 years. At the top is a visual side-by-side comparison of each hole for 1934 and 2012. Below the hole comparisons is a timeline that maps tee, fairway and green area changes year-by-year. The combination of visual comparison and detailed timeline provides a sweeping overview of all the major changes made since 1934.(Source)

Click the banner image above to go check it out! Ordering information is also provided for the 40" x 24" poster.

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